eee!

Happy birthday to sunbrae! You're a wonderful person & friend, & I hope you have an equally wonderful birthday.

24 days till the baby's due date. I had an appointment last night & there's no real progress. I hope this means she'll be late. (Short term disability only gets me so far through December). The baby appears healthy, so that's good.

I don't want to be at work any more today.

TV entertains me. Ringer is cheese-tastic & I'm not quite sure why I enjoy it so. Warehouse 13NCIS like the rest of the country, apparently. Need to catch up on Castle and Terra Nova on OnDemand. Sons of Anarchy makes me anxious but it's really good. Also, all of these shows come on at basically the same times. Annoying!

Still slogging my way through A Clash of Kings. This book is going much slower than the first.

Had a good weekend; saw friends, did some shopping (about 15-20 outfits for the baby @ a resale for under $27, woo!), went on a mini-road trip to wine country. Yes, in Illinois. I'll be able to drink it soon enough, yay!

ETA: Went to see Drive this evening. Good movie. It really is an art-house version of an action movie. I should have known it would be one of those slow, artsy movies when Cliff Martinez showed up in the credits as the composer. (He did the music for Solaris and a bunch of other broody, introspective films.) Also, this movie is surprisingly gorey. The action is slow to start, but once it does it pulls no punches. Everyone in the theater was freaking out at one point. Of course, some people brought their kids. Are you kidding me? Sheesh.

(Hi, Dr. Nick!)

Just updating because I haven't in a while, and I have the time to do so. Things are coming along in these here parts. It's been a lovely three-day weekend. There need to be more three-day weekends in the year.

Friday night after work we went out to meet with the Scientist's friend/former coworker D. She's super-awesome. We had food and drinks and then went to go pick up some booze so the two of them could have more drinks. (FYI, the Scientist found Tito's Handmade Vodka at Binny's and decided to give it a try. It's made in Austin and is distilled six times. He said it's some of the best vodka he's ever tried. So if you're a vodka drinker, perhaps you should check this out.) Anyway, so D came back to our house and we hung out and they watched ST:TNG and I was kind of bored and then sleepy and I went to bed the end.

Saturday I went to our insurance agent to put in for more life insurance. I'm officially an adult. More life insurance, plus a rider for our unborn baby. Oy. After that, I went downtown to meet with my friend N and Jenni for lunch. N brought her son (who's just the most adorable little boy), and we all had a nice time eating crepes. Then we went to a comic store so N's son could check out what he might buy with his allowance, and I ran to Ann Sather's to get cinnamon rolls for the Scientist for breakfast the next day. From there we headed over to Be By Baby, a baby boutique where N got a lot of stuff for her son. She bought us a lot of cloth diapering supplies there for our baby shower, and I wanted to check out what else they had. On the way there, we saw this HUUUUUGE wall of water coming at us and we ended up driving through a torrential rainstorm. It was pretty awesome. After shopping we all headed our separate ways. It was a nice day.

Yesterday we got up and hit the Kane County Flea Market, which is now much more of an antiques fair than a flea market. However, I got a toy train made of wooden blocks for the baby ($2) as well as a book of Mother Goose rhymes with lots of 1930s-era drawings inside ($3). Then we found a guy selling antique books, and I picked up All-of-a-Kind Family, which was one of my favorites growing up. Yay! What else did I do yesterday? Bought some organizational stuff for the house so it can get in order before the baby arrives. Hit up a good sale at Barnes & Noble (two Corduroy books and A Day with Frog and Toad for the baby for less than $10). Had dinner with the in-laws, played Mario Kart with the Scientist's oldest nephew, that's about it.

Today we hit up the Aurora outlet mall. The weather has gotten significantly cooler here, and I realized that I have exactly TWO long-sleeved maternity shirts. The maternity store there was having a 40% off red-lined merchandise sale, so I bought seven new shirts and a pair of jeans for under $100. I may return the jeans based on what yakgirl loaned me. Then I was a bad kid and went to the Swarovski store. I've been ogling a ring there for literally years now, and I saw that they were having a sale, so I had to try. 50% off the markdown price. They had the ring. I couldn't pass it up for its price (normally over $200, I picked it up for under $60). I shouldn't be buying it, but I've been drooling over it for years and the super-awesome guy at the store said it was the last of two and he hasn't seen any new ones come in for at least a year, so I figure it's mine. Yay! After shopping we met up with the Scientist's sister and her friends for lunch, and then we came home and napped and played some Lego Pirates and now we're going to watch the latest episode of the Thundercats reboot. Because we're adults.

I hope you've all had a good weekend!

1) Saw both Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens. Would wholeheartedly recommend the former over the latter. The latter is good "turn your brain off" summer action movie, but nothing I haven't seen before. The former was much more fun, much prettier (the art direction is fabulous!), and overall so much more earnest and enjoyable. Thumbs up.

2) Had a family baby shower up in Michigan, hosted by yakgirl at our parents' house. Got to see some aunts I haven't seen in a while, several cousins, and a few friends of the family (including jennlavigne, who is hilarious as ever). It was a good time. Played games, ate food, got a TON of gifts. I now have a lot of baby clothes to wash!

3) My sister, having found out that I already received a copy of Go the Fuck to Sleep, got me a copy of Pat the Zombie. I am TRAUMATIZED. My husband, however, loves it. :|

4) My sister bought the baby clown shoes. Again, I am TRAUMATIZED. My sister is a sadist.

5) On Thursday, the Scientist had an interview for a full-time position doing crystalization, whatever that is. It's something more than he's done before, so it'd be cool if he got the job and could learn a new scientific skill. He won't hear back for two weeks, but any good juju his way would be appreciated.

6) The house is a disaster zone. The nursery looks like something exploded inside of it. Our bedroom needs cleaning. The living room needs cleaning. I think we should just move out onto the lawn.

7) The cat knows something is up. She keeps eyeing the nursery with suspicion.

8) I am still working my way through A Game of Thrones on my lunch breaks. I just got to the point where ( spoiler if you haven't read the book/seen the show ).

9) I've been away from LJ too long -- I forgot how to cut-tag and had to look it up. :(

10) Tomorrow are the birthdays of both my brother-in-law B (yakgirl's husband) and my sister-in-law S, who is turning 21. Though neither will see this, I hope they both have wonderful birthdays tomorrow, because they are both wonderful people.

Wow, check out this douchery. This makes me wish Jason Voorhees would jump out of the lake with his machete and hack that dinner party to pieces. My friends have decided all of our parties are failures because we haven't served twigs with dinner or arrived via canoe.

In other news, the Scientist put the crib together today. "And I helped!" Thanks to yakgirl and her hubby for the crib once again.

What else is up? Yesterday I got to hang with aj, who stopped by my place for a few hours on her way from Aurora back to the city. It was really nice just to chill and not do anything but talk. Yay for friends!

That's really all I've got. I hope you're all having a nice weekend.

First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone reading this. May you all have a happy, fun, and safe New Year tonight.

Okay, so it's rainy and pooptacular outside (as always, Chicago weather is a big WTF), which means I've been inside all day. I started a new cross stitch project last night, one which will surely take me several months. So far today I've done about 3 square inches. Maybe less, I'm not sure. But I feel accomplished nonetheless.

Last night we went down to Oak Park to visit with my friend Natalie. She's pretty much the only friend I made at U of I in classes. (Everyone else I either met at the dorm, apartment, or via fava_bean.) Anyway, Nat and I took poetry together, and then a horribly boring English class, and we just kept taking classes together because we got along so well. Now she lives out in LA, but she came back to Illinois to visit family and had a few nights up here in the burbs with friends, so we all met up in my old neighborhood. Literally, we were next door to my old apartment. So it was nice to see her, even if it was just for a few hours and there were a lot of other people there wanting her attention as well. Still, nice to see her.

What else is going on? I guess because it's New Year's Eve, I should make at least one resolution. I'm being realistic and giving myself a resolution I can actually achieve: READ MORE BOOKS. yakgirl gave me The Hunger Games and I need to continue with that. (I'm at a good stopping point right now -- I know once I pick it up again I won't be able to put it down. And there are two more books after that.) There are new Patricia Briggs books coming this year, and in March she'll be doing a signing in nearby Oakbrook for the next Mercy Thompson book. Garth Nix has a new novella in June (and a new Old Kingdom book due in 2012, yay!). And now that the first half of the last movie is out, I think I can finally, safely begin working my way through the Harry Potter books.

And in regards to a resolution that isn't a resolution but instead a Change In Lifestyle, I'm going to force myself to do at least 1/2 hour of exercise per day. I am not a person who enjoys physical exertion, especially if it occurs in front of others. Yes, that includes my husband. But I figure if I force myself to do even 1/2 hour of SOMETHING every morning, over time it will become a habit and something I'll like, and I'll stick with it. I read that you have to do something daily for 90 days in order for it to become an actual habit, and something you miss if you don't get it. So rather than say I'm going to do this every day, I'm going to say that my resolution is to do it for 90 days, and hopefully by then it will become a Change In Lifestyle on its own. That's the plan.

Last night was super-fun. After work I drove downtown to meet up with nu_breed, vileseagulls, spasticat, and deeablo. The first two are in Chicagoland for WinCon and staying with the third, and the fourth and I met the three of them for dinner at Lou Malnati's. (This is quickly becoming the go-to eatery for when out-of-towners come to visit; we also went there for abby20's visit this summer.) We figured out that the last time nu_breed was in town from NZ was all the way back in 2004. Holy crap, that was a long time ago. And I've never met vileseagulls before, but she is absolutely charming and lovely, and I'm glad to have had the chance to meet her. It was also great to see spasticat again, as it's been years—literally, years—since we've seen one another. We'll have to make sure that much time doesn't pass by till we hang out again. Anyway, it was a great time at dinner with lots of laughing, lots of pizza, lots of gossip, and a good time all around. Hooray!

In other news, tonight I'm going to try to hem the Scientist's suit pants. I've never hemmed pants before, but I think I can do it. We'll see...

This weekend the weather turned all cold and gray, and I am loving it. No, seriously, I love it. I love the gray skies, I love the chill in the air, I love snuggling under blankets at night and having it feel like the greatest place on earth. Hooray for cool weather!

This weekend ended up being okay. On Saturday afternoon I met up with xica_s, who had taken the train out to the burbs from the city. Her coworker was having an Oktoberfest party at her house, and seeing as how she lives two towns over from me, xica asked if I'd go as her "date." The couple hosting were both really nice, with the wife making a metric ton of delicious food, and the husband brewing his own really good beer. I had a really nice time, and it was great to meet some other people in our area. xica's coworker invited me to a party in a few weeks, but it's the same weekend as a family wedding, so that's a no-go. Boooo. I was hoping to make some new local friends...

On Sunday we went over to the Scientist's parents' house for an early lunch, as we were celebrating his youngest brother's birthday. (We were told this was going to happen on Friday night, only to discover that it had been rescheduled without our knowledge.) So we had lunch with the family, and then he took off with his dad to an auction. I went out shopping with his sister J to get sewing and crafting supplies. I needed a new button for my leather jacket, which means all new buttons, stronger thread, and leatherworking needles. Then I decided "what the hell" and picked up a cross stitch learner's kit. I've never cross stitched or done needlepoint or anything, but lately I've been wanting to get into it. I don't know why. Winter's coming, I'm looking for hibernation activities, I don't know. And then I bought a foam wreath, to which I'm going to attach all of our wine corks. Except it didn't work the way I'd hoped, so I'm going to return it and get a different sized wreath (as well as one made from different material; all the DIY sites say to use a dried hay wreath instead of foam). We've been thinking about getting a cork wreath for our front door, and considering how much they cost we may as well make our own. I like the straight cork look better than the messy cork look due to the fact that a) it will require less corks, b) it will be flatter and therefore might fit between our front door and storm door, and c) it just looks different. So J is saving her corks and I'm saving ours (I'm up to 5—I wish I had thought of this earlier...) so maybe someday I'll have enough for a full wreath.

And then last night we went to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which was actually pretty good. I mean, the plot is the typical epic quest fantasy story that you'd expect for any relatively competent kids' movie. However, this movie had two big things going for it that made me like it a lot. 1) The animation is phenomenal, espeically in 3D. Really, really beautiful. 2) This movie didn't pander by making all the "scary" stuff nice for the kiddies. I've read some critics' complaints that the movie is "too dark," but you know what? Kids need to be challenged in their books and movies. We can't just keep shoveling crap like Marmaduke at kids and expect them to walk away from the movie thinking about what they've seen and learning lessons from it. I don't expect all kids' movies to have a Moral Lesson, but I DO expect kids' movies not to treat children like complete and utter morons who can't think beyond sunshine and puppies and ice cream for everyone, you know? The movie made certain to say that war is hell, and sometimes doing what's right isn't doing what's easy. Honestly, more kids should hear that kind of thing instead of being treated like they live in a bubble. Phew, rant over! Anyway, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.

Also, is this normal? I ordered something online a few weeks ago, and in order to get free shipping I had to do FedEx 8-10 day shipping. I never ship through FedEx, instead most of my stuff comes from UPS or just the regular post office. Anyway, it says my package was delivered to my town on Saturday. Instead of delivering it to my house, FedEx dropped it at the post office for THEM to deliver. Is that normal FedEx protocol, to just leave all their packages with the post office to make the last leg of the delivery? I had no idea this is how FedEx works, but it just smacks of laziness to me. Considering I just saw the FedEx truck drive by, I know they deliver to businesses. Do they just not make house calls? Weird.

This has been a good weekend. Friday night after work, the Scientist and I made up a HUGE salad with kalmata olives, almonds, fresh feta, etc. and took it to fava_bean's parents' house. They were having their goodbye dinner for her, and invited the two of us over to join them. So we split a few bottles of wine, gave fava's boyfriend and father a big bottle of Trader Joe's lager to drink (as they're not winos), and we all had pizza. Since fava has Celiac, she got the gluten-free pizza from Lou Malnati's, which consists of a crust made from a giant sausage patty. OMG, so good! So much grease, but so good. I think it was better than their regular crust pizzas. Anyway, we all sat around eating and talking, and it was a really nice goodbye to her before she left for NYC on Saturday morning. I'll miss her like crazy, but I know NYC will treat her well.

On Saturday morning I got up and did a three-mile walk on the Wii with the Scientist. After that we both got cleaned up for the day, he went to work, and I ran errands before heading into the city. I was meeting a huge gang of girls for lunch at Gino's East. Two deep dish pizza meals in less than 24 hours -- coronary time! Anyway, I got there to find fenwic, dionneshea, and enkeli waiting in line. Just a few moments later, angelchicken, sunbrae, and canadia_bit arrived, too. We were seated, and soon after that deeablo joined us as well. I had brought collectible Eclipse drinking cups for everyone (as gag gifts for everyone who wasn't Sunny and AC -- bit wisely declined to take a cup). No one wanted Bella -- HA! Anyway, the waiter thought we were a Twilight fan club, which made some of us laugh ruefully and some of us groan in dismay. Hey, I was the one who had to carry those stupid cups on not one, but TWO train lines while people stared at me. Anyway, we all ate lunch and laughed and laughed, as you would expect with all of those ladies.

From there, we trekked over to the Hancock Center to have drinks at the 96th floor lounge. Buying one overpriced drink there is still cheaper than paying to go to the observatory, and this way you got a seat AND booze, so it's a better option. The out-of-town ladies all went to the bathroom to get pictures of the view (best view of the skyline in the entire city), and we chilled there for a bit before heading out again.

We stopped at a Borders in the hopes of procuring a copy of The Apple to watch. Neither deeablo or myself had thought to bring our copies, but unfortunately it was out of stock everywhere. So instead bit and enkeli went shopping, and the rest of us headed back to the shared hotel room to hang out and relax. We ended up looking up horrible things on the internet like "The Velvet V" and some poly-filled butt "educational tool" that deeablo discovered via Regretsy. Eventually the night devolved into reading entries at MyLifeIsTwilight.com and simultaneously laughing at and being horrified by the entries there. (One of our favorites was this one, which had us cracking up at the stupidity of it.)

Around nine-something I was starting to wear down, and since fennie was already in her pajamas, I called it a night and headed home. It was really great to spend the day with everyone, and so wonderful to finally meet bit, dionne, and enkeli in person, as well as see fennie and Sunny again. It's been too long! Hopefully it won't be forever until I see you all again. Thanks so much for coming to Chicago, all of you!

And now I'm back at Argonne for the day, hanging out with the Scientist. He's in the lab doing science stuff while I'm updating. We just got back from a bike ride around the grounds. I only had one minor panic attack, but after a break at the gym to cool down, I had no problems on the ride back to his lab. So I'm getting better! Still not good by any means, but better.

Finally, a very happy birthday to my brother-in-law, also known in these parts at Poo-flung. I know he won't read this, but yakgirl will, so tell him happy birthday for me again. Also today is my sister-in-law S's birthday, so we'll be doing cake for her later tonight at her parents' house. I guess it's in-law birthdays today.

Despite what my icon may make you believe, no, the Spice Girls did not play Lilith Fair this weekend. ::sadface::

( All about Lilith Fair. )

(FYI to spicedrum: your check is in the mail as of this morning.)

Tonight marked the first time in the 2 and 2/3 years I've lived in this house that I've had to hide in the downstairs bathroom due to tornadoes. I DID NOT ENJOY IT. As I was driving home from work, I could see the super-dark clouds looming to the north. I was on the phone with fava_bean, who informed me that the news was showing a huge storm directly over DG, the town just north of me. Thankfully, the cloud shelf stopped right at the street I was on. To the north there was lightning and greenish sky and rain. To the south was sun. It was spooky. So I raced into the grocery store to nab what I needed for the evening and weekend and raced home. On the way, A called to say she was out in the street watching the clouds, and she didn't like the looks of things. Up in GE, a town a few miles north where her parents live, the sirens were on. A warned me that things were going to get bad, so she would come over when it was, in her estimation, safe.

As I pulled into the driveway I could hear sirens going off to the south, which FREAKED ME OUT. But then they stopped, so I grabbed the mail and groceries and scrambled inside. I was only inside for a few minutes when the rain started up here. I made a quick effort to grab my cat, who would NOT come out from under the bed. At that point I thought "Screw her, I'm not risking my hide for a stubborn cat!" I went back downstairs, grabbed a flashlight, my cell phone, and a few blankets and went into the bathroom just as the sirens started up. fava sent a text to say there was a tornado in my area, and I texted back to say I was in hiding. A few minutes later, the sirens stopped. But by this point I was so freaked out that I was sweating like a thief in church, so I had to change clothes. I guess that's my reaction to the threat of tornadoes: adrenaline to get through it, and then the sweats. Grosssss.

A little while after A came over and said the worst of it was done. We watched the lightning for a while, saw a rainbow, and then a crazy firey-orange sunset with lightning all around. Then we ate pizza, drank a bottle of champagne she wanted to split, and watched an old movie called The Watcher in the Woods. I remember it scaring the bejeezus out of me as a kid, but as an adult it's not very scary. If anything, I just found myself annoyed at how the lead actress only SHOUTED HER LINES instead of acting. But it was still fun to watch it, especially the alternate ending with aliens and stuff. Yes, really. Disney made a movie about a girl getting abducted by aliens during a seance, starring Bette Davis. Yes, REALLY. Good times.

Also, did anyone else see this in the latest message from LJ?
Frank would like to take a moment to commemorate the one-year passing of the King of Pop. Tell him your favorite Michael Jackson song or video, and he'll give you a glittering hand.
Would I still get the glittery glove if I told Franky my favorite Michael Jackson video is the one where he talked about how the police photographed his thighs, buttocks, and penis? That's the first thing I thought of, because I am warped.